Belmont Stakes 2015 Post Positions: Triple Crown Odds and Predictions for Field

The 2015 Belmont Stakes are all set for Saturday afternoon, as much of the sports world will take a sojourn from mainstream pursuits to watch if horse racing history can be claimed on the 1 ½ miles of track at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.

American Pharoah will either become the 12th horse to capture a Triple Crown on Saturday or fade into obscurity—at least as far as the general public is concerned. The last horse to pull off the rare feat was Affirmed in 1978.

The stakes are highest for American Pharoah, his owner Ahmed Zayat, jockey Victor Espinoza and trainer Bob Baffert at Belmont although that shouldn't take away from the considerable challenge awaiting seven other horses in this year's field. American Pharoah has been training well, according to Baffert, but one has to wonder if that will be enough.

"He looked very relaxed out there," Baffert said, via the New York Post's John Sutton. "You can't see much because this track is so big, but when he went by us, he looked like he was just his floating over the race track like he moves. That means that he's healthy, and we were really happy with the way he went."

From new shooter Madefromlucky to Preakness competitor Tale of Verve to the excellent Frosted, there are all kinds of horses with various backgrounds and merit looking to swipe the Belmont from AP and put the Triple Crown out of reach for at least another year.

Here's a look at the entries, odds and predictions for this year's field.

Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Odds	Prediction
1	Mubtaahij	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Michael De Kock	14-1	5th
2	Tale of Verve	Gary Stevens	Dallas Stewart	20-1	7th
3	Madefromlucky	Javier Castellano	Todd Pletcher	14-1	4th
4	Frammento	Mike Smith	Nick Zito	40-1	8th
5	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	5-7	1st
6	Frosted	Joel Rosario	Kiaran McLaughlin	6-1	2nd
7	Keen Ice	Kent Desormeaux	Dale Romans	25-1	3rd
8	Materiality	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	13-2	6th

Answer	Odds
Yes	5-7
No	11-10

Odds courtesy of Odds Shark and updated as of June 6 at 5 a.m. ET.

Does American Pharoah Have Enough Left in the Tank?

American Pharoah moved in toward the rail from a start at the No. 18 gate at the Kentucky Derby and showed great spirit in holding off Dortmund and Firing Line on his way to a first-leg Triple Crown win. 

The Preakness Stakes again saw American Pharoah make a brilliant charge on the home stretch, but this time, he started along the inside rail and managed not to get pinned by the hulking Dortmund at the No. 2 post.

American Pharoah has won in myriad ways, but the Belmont Stakes is the longest of the three Triple Crown legs. The effort required to win is tremendous, especially for a horse staring down his third Grade 1 race in the span of five weeks.

Wired's Lexi Pandell writes that the science of recovery and a horse's physiology don't portend good results for American Pharoah:

"

After a race is over, a horse's body gets to work processing the lactic acid and, perhaps most importantly, restoring glycogen reserves. In humans, glycogen recoup takes about 24 hours. But horses take a lot longer—several days, in fact. Trainers make sure their charges drink plenty of water and sometimes even use intravenous fluids to aid that repair process.

"

Glycogen stores and the clearing of lactic acid are just two of the many reasons Pandell cites that suggest American Pharoah can't possibly be in good enough physical condition to pull off the Triple Crown win. Indeed, horse racing is in a 37-year Triple Crown drought, an era Pandell notes coincides with the advent of giving horses Lasix, a diuretic:

"Some experts say it's no coincidence that the Triple Crown drought started around the same time Lasix became a standard in the racing world."

Still, American Pharoah does have some things going his way. The field is small, and many of the horses ran in the Derby and aren't named Dortmund or Firing Line. This means they finished well behind American Pharoah (Frosted was the closest, finishing in a very distant fourth).

Tale of Verve did finish second to AP at Pimlico, but that still meant crossing the finish line a good seven lengths behind the winner. 

As for some of those fatigue and strength issues, well, John Cherwa of the Los Angeles Times notes American Pharoah is faring better than 2014 Triple Crown hopeful California Chrome did last year at this stage:

"

Last year, California Chrome was already showing signs of being tired as he entered the Belmont as he was, at best, just maintaining his weight. American Pharoah has actually put on a few pounds, meaning he is in good health, has a great appetite and is just loving life. His ears are perked and he seems to be having fun. Of all the factors, this is the one that brings the most optimism. He seems more than ready.

"

That's one positive indicator among a multitude of doubts and concerns surrounding the horse, but those betting on American Pharoah to make history on Saturday will have to take it.

If a horse such as American Pharoah is unable to break the Triple Crown-less streak, one has to wonder if horse racing officials will consider spreading out the races.

Given this is a sport steeped in history and tradition, that would appear unlikely, but the thought of giving a horse a chance at making history would seem to be quite appealing for those concerned with the waning interest in the sport.

It's tempting to pick against American Pharoah, but perhaps this horse truly is different. I'm going with history being made on Saturday. Besides, the process of hoping, waiting and wishing for a Triple Crown winner will begin anew soon after the race whether American Pharoah wins or not. It's all part of the fun.